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Thanks for the info we are assuming the worst but I think we will fix it. sounds cheaper then buying a new car. I think it is a EA82. The raditator is empty and I do not it has any oil in it. when you fill it up there is not any oil scum. The oil is another issue however. as we were having so many issues with overheating it only had water in no antifreeze. Most of the water is leaking out under the carb I drive 20 miles and the radiator is empty. it is coming out visiably in a small stream. right under the gaskets for the conversion kit. thanks for the info on the gaskets. that helps.

That is good to hear. I have not dealt with the hatachi and my spouse was wondering if these issues made it worth it. I will wonder no more. we really have not had many issues most with the carb ended up being because of a fusable link that was out. this leak has made him a little cranky though cannot blame the guy he was working on my machine and it was not being very nice. and then he found the water in the oil. (no oil in the water though) when you are mad sometimes you say things that you regret later. Will be very happy with my weber now. THANKS

Well we just put in a new timing belt and just about all the other belts and pumps (within 1,000 miles). and we get discounted parts so that might bring it down some more. I guess 100-200 is not that bad . (especially since we already put in a $200 oil pump a $100, fuel pump, a $50 timing belt, new belts for some of the other pumps or things. a $150 radiator and a thermostat and ect ect.....) . will check one other thing first was reading a post about having a weber carb and it leaking under the conversian kit. that might be my issue as I am having a severe leak there already. I think the heads were done last year before we bought the car. that is the only bummer part if it is the heads.

Thanks we were sure with the water in the oil it was the head gaskets. That makes me feel so much better. I saw the water leaking out the bottom of the carb yesterday. IT has really been sounding horrible (no wonder) Will fix that asap and hopefully (fingers crossed ) this will lick my problems. maybe then I can drive with the A/C on. (now that it is almost winter). Do you think the weber carb is worth it? or do you think the stock one was better? We did not install it and it seems to have some real issues. It does make it easier to work on the car though.

Hey I am having a similar issue. altough my water is flowing under the carb but not out the top and it has also mixed with the oil. So I just seal off that passage for the water? (I too have a weber carb) was the water passage for the old carberator and the weber retro kit did not adequetly seal it off?

my car had been overheating. (86 sub) we flushed the old radiatior and started having a mirad of problems it started leaking under the carb. and was not holding water even after we installed the new radiator. car was just plain running rough and horrible. today was driving home and it kept dying everytime I took my foot off the gas. replaced the gasket under the carb (where it was leaking water) and then it would not start. so we checked the oil and it is kind of bubbly looking (looked fine this mornig before I left) Does that sound like a blown head gasket?? is it worth fixing??? engine sounded good when I parked it a little rough but good) I do not have the money to put more into it then it is worth. it has 200,000 miles and was running good body is in great shape (it is a washington car no salt) and interior is in good shape it even has AC that works and a nice Cd player)

Those prices all sound low here. I bought my subbie for 750 running with a new carb new stereo, head job, and a bunch of other work almost all the subbies that are decent running are near 1000 but you can find them for 500. The ones not running are also selling at 500. my nephew was given one from a friend but it did not run (it ended up being a fusable link he paid I think $100 to get it up and running but that was from a friend we sold our pontiac bonneville this winter (1995) for $300 the tranny was toast it needed new brakes and beyond (it had a major brake fluid leak, big oil leak, 300,000 miles on the engine. ) In general you could not drive it. and we estimated parts at close to 2,500 to get it running or more That was with us doing all the work but the tranny (we get a big discount on auto parts). I personally would not have paid more then $50 for it but I saw another one on craigslist sell for $500 in the same shape (blue book is only 2,000). you never know what you will find. In the past I have sold cars that have not ran and were about 10-15 years old for about 500. all needing more then $1000 worth of work. But then I have also sold cars that ran great had low miles for $500 too. (just did not want to deal with selling them get them gone fast) We sold a subbie in CALF. in the mid 90's for $350 with a gear oil leak so bad you had to add gear oil just to get to town and then on the way back, it had no starter so you had to pop start it the winsheild wipers did not work, the heater coil was bipassed(no heat in winter we lived by donner pass), It needed new CV boots all the way around would not pass emmissions, the guy we bought it form had added sawdust to the tranny to keep it smooth. We were happy to get anything for it. (we bought it for $1500 6 months before we sold it) Sometimes I wonder if it is still on the road (I think it was a 1980 white gl) The 4 wheel drive would pop out when you used it so you had to hold it in gear. (but it would work great if you held it in. One time we drove through donner pass in a snowstorm with bald tires and held the 4wd in the whole way (2 hrs without snow) boy my arm was sore when we got home. (we froze too with no heater ) the whole time we were thinking or the donner party and what would happen if we got stuck there. personally I think car prices are what you think the car is worth if you look hard enough you will find the deals. I saw a Brat on craigslist last week for 500 that ran great and had really low miles it almost looked new I sure wish I had the money for it. but there was also another one for 2500 the same week in about the same shape. the same vintage. speaking of that I am trying to sell a suburban right now and cannot seem to get rid of it. It has some issues but for someone looking for a 90's suburban it is half of bluebook for its shape. We have had only one offer on it and the guy flaked. I think I will have to raise the price just so people will notice it. which is a bummer because we wanted it gone before this weekend. Of course the grass is always greener on the other side PA has a car I want for the price I want (but it is not worth shipping) I keep wishing it was over here and you know what is the bummer The car has not sold in a couple of weeks as if to say HA HA I am way over here and you cannot get me. The best deals we ever got were towing auctions 200 for a car worth 2000 with only adding a 200 part. he worked for the towing company though so we knew what we were buying. Sometimes all the car needed was gas, one car only needed a new battery the best one though needed a 300 computer part and a head job. but it was still less then what the car was worth.

Let me guess I do not want a used one. from looking at other posts they tend to go bad.

My car does not seem to be leaking fluid 86 subaru gl, but on hot days I cannot run the a/c or it theatens to overheat. I also cannot drive long distances with out the heat on or it thinks of overheating on hot days .(1 hour plus) If I run it with the heater on but fan off it is fine. I have replaced the thermostat. No oil leaks (noticably at least) and oil pressure its good. It was fine all winter but in spring when the temp went up so did the temp in the car sometimes almost to the red but never in it. When I drive with the heater on it always stays in the same spot where it is supposed to be. It does not appear to be losing water but I have had to add it a few times and other times it is full after driving it several weeks. Oh most of the time the temp comes up only when the A/C is on (but not always.) I am thinking of checking the fan (to see it it comes on) flushing the radiatior would the radiatior cap do it? . it is a little worn on the ends of the rubber under the cap. as I just changed the temp gauge could it be bubbles in the radiator sometimes it does not seem to fill up all the way.(I do know he flushed it when he changed the thermostat. but car was barely nose downhill. ( when I Fill it and drive it and then add more water (after it has cooled of course one day I added another quart after I drove it 5 miles) other days it is still full when I drive 100 miles. ) Sorry I am not a mechanic nor mecanically inclined. so bear with my interestsing descriptions. I do not actually fix my cars hubby does (or my sons) and he is getting a little stumped with this thing. (he is pretty good mechanically just not a mechanic. IT is so frustrating to have the only car we have with a real good A/C and we cannot even use it. He is used to fixing GM vehicles so not used to tin cans as he calls the subaru (sorry it is my car he tolerates it) (GMs mostly he has dealth with bad exhaust sytems and trannys and rear ends.and a new engine on our two dodges we have had.) . It seems to be the little stuff at least on the subaru. I believe it has a new head but am not sure (we bought it around December and they had done tons of work to it.) Any other ideas on what to check or does it sound like I am looking into the right things?

heater core?

You could always add roll bars if you were worried about support I am sure you could weld something up my brother in law has lots of fun with this he converted two old chevies that way and they were rust buckets they called them the babe mobiles. I think it would give a jeep like look to a subie. They also would add support in a accident. I think that would fit the subaru style a little bit more a bit more rugged and outdoorish then those pictures they look a bit out of charactor for subarus. very lebaronish.

Mine was doing the same thing we tried the same thing after several days of tinkering we checked the fusable links and all the fuses for conections when we were done it worked fine. apparently one of them was not in all the way or?? the other thing that I have found on mine is it only runs good on premium gas it sputters and is underpowered on regular (fuel additive works good too) we also thoughly cleaned the carb. (it was not getting enough gas)

our old Subaru we had years ago would just pop out of 4wd

where in the (*&^ do you guys keep finding this stuff? Hey in our state they have been all over creigs list I have found (not bought all) at least 10 under 500 in the last 3 months that have all ran and did not have major problems

We put in a new oil pump and that seemed to fix most of the problem now we just have a the engine noise. Unfortunatly we had a really hard time finding a pump it took us about 10 parts stores to find one and then it was 250. now we actually have oil pressure wow. I guesss we have a oil pump that is connected with the timing chain and that is why we had pressure when we had higher RPM's and not when we were stopped.

I will have to check that out. yes you are right it is over 20 years and I should expect some wiring problems and little things going is fine. I still really like subarus but we bought a lemon years ago and my spouse is having a real hard time especially since this one keeps having one thing going after another ( I really like it though and it has only stranded me once)This year we have really went though cars but hey they all did have high milage this is a 86 gl with about 180,000 miles. True the issues this one has had are fairly cheap to fix but they have been a headache finding what is wrong. (our lemon we bought we were unexperianced and young and the previous owner put sawdust in with the oil to make it run smooth he disconnected the heater core (we bought it in the summer and the heater seemed to work) within 3 months it needed a starter (cheap ) a alternator new cv boots (it was leaking gear oil like crazy leaking motor oil like crazy when you poured it in it came out the other side.the windsheild wipers did not work and it overheated. I KNOW MOST SUBARUS ARE NOT LIKE THIS

We are currently trying to find one it is a 86 and the shop we normally get parts out of it having a real tough time finding us one. right before this we had trouble with the fuel system replaced the pump filters and cleaned the carb and then found out it was probably a loose conection somewhere. DO all subarus seem to have trouble with wiring/ connections? We have had this about a month and already my spouse is wanting it gone. How might I check the sending unit ?

My subarus oil pressure the other day sat at 0 and then after a few minutes went up to the normal range then it went back down to almost 0 and it seems to bounce around as long as the rpm are around 3 or 4 the oil presssure stays at a decent level but when the rpms go to 0 so does the oil pressure. It is not overheating. I has plenty of oil. also after the oil issue started it started to make a slight pinging noise. Any clues the pump seems to work but??? could it be going bad? We drained the oil and put in a new filter and then tried cleaning it out. Bad valves? rod knock? would those have strange oil pressure along with them?

Have you tried premium? mine runs awful without it. keeps sputtering and you have to keep the gas depressed but runs great and normal on Premium or with a fuel additive.

mine only runs on premium does anyone else have that problem. it cuts out when you put regular in. We changed the fuel filters thinking it was dirty gas but they were clean.

I do not think it was the float because when we pulled the gas lines to the carb. when you started it it sent out a gush of gas then nothing unless you really pumped on the gas then it would send a tiny steam. So it had to be some senor or something that was telling the pump to pump. as It was before the gas even entered the carb. there was no kinks in the line. Good news is what ever it was seems to be working if it happens again I may try testing the sensors or something like that that would tell the fuel pump to pump. I know the fuel pump works as we tested that. The mechanic friend that came over and help also mentioned that some of the fuses and fusable links had some corrosion so it very well could have been that. But at least with all the tinkering it is running better then it has in a long time and finally idols nice too.but I think we may have ajusted the carb to low now it takes longer to start I cannot believe the difference though it was really having trouble making hills and now it flys up them I might actually get a speeding ticket now. before I was lucky if I made it up a hill on the hwy doing 45 now I do not even have to downshift most of the time wow. it may have been several things dealing with the fuel system. Just curious what kind of MPG does your Subarus get?

I checked the float?? in the carb after we had pumped the gas it was mostly empty so we started going back. when you started the car the gas was good but then after it was running a few seconds it would stop. I am not sure what the problem was as we went and checked all the fuses after we did that it works fine so aparently one of the fuses was either loose or corroded or???? or we bumped something and it started working again who knows?

No it does not smell like gas. We have pretty much cleaned the carb. we have been messing with it for two days now. will check the float levels again. it seems to have enough gas to start it but then it is like it does not get enough to keep it running?? I think?? even with you pumping the gas it just dies off. but then starts again fine. it restarts like it never even had a problem.

He I am really having trouble with my 84 it has a weber carb but other then that is standard. what happened is I drove it the other day and it ran good but.. the hills were a real chore for it I actually had to downshift to first and usually I can make it up in 2 or 3rd. then I got there and turned it off when I went to restart it all it did was catch and run for about 30 seconds and then die. messed with the carb replaced the fuel filters replaced the fuel pump still will not stay started. I can not figure this out when we sprayed starter fluid in the carb it seemed to run better but... would still die. It was not getting enough gas (ie no pressure) with new pump it has more pressure but still will not run. sounds good for the 30 seconds it is running